The Workers’ Party has denounced Sinn Fein for its failure to meet with the other Executive parties at Stormont yesterday.

“We are returning to the days of  backroom manoeuvres and secret dealing, if we ever really left them” Party spokesman, John Lowry, told a meeting of party members in Belfast. “Martin McGuinness has told the DUP that ‘there is a responsibility to show leadership’ in relation to anti-Stormont elements in that party. Well, we can say exactly the same to Mr McGuinness and his Party. You were elected to positions of power but you prefer to walk away from them when you think it suits you".

“The situation in Northern Ireland is too serious to allow a standoff among the Executive parties. As recently as 2006,  21% of the population of Northern Ireland were living in low income households.  This is equivalent to around 350,000 of our people.  Meanwhile, food and fuel costs are spiralling out of control, with electricity prices due to rise by 33.3 per cent and Phoenix Natural Gas to increase its prices by 19.2 per cent.

“To his credit,  Mark Durkan said of Gordon Brown’s recent visit here that  people would have preferred the opportunity to be used to more convincingly address the economic challenges and the public stress which is rising along with price hikes. But the Workers’ Party will hold Mr Durkan to his word. The parties in the Executive can continue with the failed neo-liberal project of bringing what’s left of Celtic Tiger economics  to the North, or they can begin to address the needs of the people with a different kind of politics. In this week of global financial turmoil, the choice is stark.”

Issued 20th September 2008